This is the official blog of the Learning Community Charter School Community. Please subscribe using the link below for updates on school news and policies. Your comments and questions are welcome and will be moderated. We reserve the right to select those which will appear on the blog. Thanks for stopping by!
Anyone who knows 5th grade teacher, Emily Litman knows that she loves to travel. We are so pleased to announce that this month she has been awarded a very prestigious fellowship, the IREX Teachers for Global Classrooms, which is administered through the U.S. State Department.
In the fall she will take an online course on global education, and then in February 2016 she will be attending a symposium in Washington DC with about 80 other fellows chosen from schools nationwide. In the Spring of that year she'll be sent to another country - yet to be decided - to meet with educators and students there, learn about their educational system and how they incorporate a global education into their curriculum. Past fellows have been sent to Ghana, Brazil, Morocco, India and Japan.
Emily will also make presentations to students and educators about US education, culture, and daily life and then write a thesis about her experience afterward. Once she returns, Emily will share her knowledge and experiences with other LCCS teachers and students.
"Many people in other countries think of Americans in a very one-dimensional way, and one of the things I'm really looking forward to is the chance to bring a little bit of LCCS to the world, to show people in other countries the incredible diversity we have here in Jersey City," says Emily. "When I come back to LCCS, I can connect them to the world, talk about all the ways we are similar and all the ways we are different."
"With kids, I like to show them that I'm still learning even though I'm a teacher," she says. "Being able to go on trips like this and share my experiences helps my students see that it's important to learn about how other people live and learn around the world."
This trip comes in addition to the trip to Fiji that Emily and Joan Buonafide will take this summer as Fund for Teachers 2015 Fellows. During that trip, they will be studying Fiji's ecosystem, partnering with the Naleba School there, and working with LCCS students via the Internet on science and social studies summer projects.
We are so fortunate to have such incredibly dedicated teachers and we are proud to see them recognized by these organizations for their hard work and progressive teaching.
Marcmulholland
If you're downtown Jersey City, be sure to pop into City Hall to check out work by our 4th graders that is displayed. More photos appear online in The Jersey Journal.
The 15 murals - each about 3 feet by about 6 feet - circle the city hall rotunda. Students studied Jersey City's many vibrant murals, and learned how mural artists engage the community through beautification and political messages. To create their own work, students traced the outlines of their bodies, then combined paint in colors and textures, and added words that represent "community" clipped from magazines.
"We worked in groups and learned about our local community, what it means to be a good citizen, and what it means be an active member of a community," said Learning Community Charter School Art Teacher Jill Schifter. "We learned how artists get involved in their communities creating street murals and other projects engaging the people who live there."
Thanks so much to Jill and all the students for their hard work, and congratulations for being recognized by the city!
Marcmulholland
United Rescue is a new community-based volunteer emergency responder program that will be run under the direction of Jersey City Medical Center. We were fortunate to get connected to United Rescue as they chose to sponsor June-A-Palooza. They will be coming to the PTO meeting at 9:15 am on Friday June 12 to give more information to LCCS families about the project and training.
 United Rescue will give volunteers 60 hours of free medical training and supply them with basic medical equipment. When a 911 call is placed, United Rescue volunteers will receive an alert on their cell phone, and if they are the closest responder to the victim they can provide basic first aid and act as intermediaries between the patient and the arriving EMS team.
Jersey City is the first major city in the US to take part in this program, which was designed on a similar one in Israel, and we are excited about the chance to connect LCCS families with this innovative project. You can read more about it on their website or on their Facebook page.
Marcmulholland
As you may know, charter schools receive far less in state funding compared to traditional public schools. That pinch is about to get tighter.
Every charter school in Jersey City gets a base amount of per pupil funding. Last year that was $7,592. This year the proposed budget calls for it to drop to $6,912. That’s despite the fact that three years ago, a report from the state indicated that a base funding of $10,555 per pupil in base funding is necessary to deliver a through and adequate education.
When charter schools were first founded, state law provided that they should get no more than 90 percent of the funding that traditional public schools get. In reality, Jersey City charter schools get far less.
At LCCS, the actual amount of funding is not projected to drop because we receive several line items of aid due to factors such as demographics, and the year we were founded. Our total funding has been flat for the past five years at $10,530 per pupil.
But these proposed cuts could be devastating to other charter schools in Jersey City. And, if these cuts are left unchallenged, it’s a dangerous signal to lawmakers that charter school parents are not politically active. Fighting now – even if we only get a small amount of funding – could also help open the door to getting that full 90 percent that our students need and deserve.
That’s why a coalition of Jersey City Charter Schools including LCCS, The Ethical Community Charter School, Soaring Heights, Golden Door, and METS, are launching a Week of Action starting Monday May 11.
What can you do to help?
#1. Sign this petition. Share it with your friends, family, and neighbors.
#2. Call the lawmakers who can restore charter school funding, and help prevent future cuts. If you are interested in making calls, please email Jen Hughes at [email protected] and she can give you the “talking points” developed by the coalition. It will only be 4-5 calls.
#3. Go to the Jersey City Council meeting on Wednesday May 13. The coalition of Jersey City Charter Schools has also asked for a resolution from the City Council to support our bid for fair funding. Anyone who is available to speak during the public comments section should definitely try to come. Call the City Clerk's office to sign up to speak: (201) 547-5150. You MUST sign up to be able to speak (you will only have 5 minutes). Meetings start at 6:00PM but the public comment period will probably occur starting some time around 7:00PM.
#4. Attend the press conference in Trenton on Thursday May 14. The coalition of Charter Schools is holding a press conference where we will address lawmakers and explain to them that we deserve fair funding for all Jersey City students. If you are interested in attending, please contact Jen Hughes at [email protected].
Thank you very much!
Colin Hogan, Head of School
Jen Hughes, Development Director
Shelley Skinner, LCCS Board of Trustees
Marcmulholland
This week students from 5th grade as well as Middle School Students who participate in Model UN were able to meet and hear from Daniel Nyuk, who is originally from South Sudan and was one of the "Lost Boys," who escaped civil war in 1987.
To welcome him, 5th grade students created three figures wearing painted traditional Dinka tribe corsets also known as "Malual" or men and "Alual" for women. As art teacher, Jill Schifter said: "The corsets are usually beaded and worn for celebration or to show a tribe member's importance, age or wealth. Each age group gets a different color though we combine our colors.They are also known for scarification which we painted on the forehead in a traditional repeated "V" design representing tribe identity or beauty. "
Thank you to the 5th grade team, Ms. Conod - for including her Model UN students - Ms. Shifter, and Ms. Jaffrey, who also taught students the Sudanese National Anthem.
The 5th grade classes will be holding a bake sale later this year to raise money to support a Sudanese school.
Marcmulholland
I am so proud to announce that two of our 8th grade students have advanced to the national level of the National History Day competition. Hundreds of students began this competition and only 149 advanced from the regional competition to the state level. From there, our LCCS winners are two of the 18 in the state's junior division who will go on to nationals. This is an incredible honor and a testament to how hard they have worked!
 Hannah Dunton (left) will compete with her individual performance as feminist icon Gloria Steinem and Katja Larssen (right) will present her documentary film about Max Manus, the Norwegian Resistance Fighter. Also honored at the state level was Cameron Lewis (middle), who was singled out by North Jersey Media Group for his use of newspapers on his presentation on Woodward and Bernstein.
We are so proud of all 11 of our students who went to the state finals. Way to go!
Marcmulholland
Last week we were honored to have visitors from Denmark, from a high school and Aaolborg University in Copenhagen.
The group was motivated to come to the U.S. to learn more about the Touchstones program, which we have used in grades 3, 5 and Middle School since this Fall. This incredible program has a simple premise: Students sit in a circle and discuss a famous piece of writing that addresses a complex ethical theme or issue.
Teachers facilitate the discussion, but do not lead it, allowing students to take the lead. This year, students have tackled issues such as “Does money cause worries,” and “Is revenge ever right?”
The scholars from Denmark wanted to learn about how to address difficult issues, particularly in multicultural settings. They were motivated, in part, because of recent terrorist attacks and how the country, which has long been racially homogenous, is starting to become more diverse.
They chose to visit LCCS because of our involvement with Touchstones as a way to think about important issues, and because of our incredible diversity.
During their visit to LCCS they visited two Touchstone classes, one that was addressing classism and the other that was analyzing a passage of the classic French text, Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville.
 Here are some of their reflections:
“To see that 5th graders were having these really major discussions about really large philosophical issues and concepts was interesting to see,” said Iben Jensen.
“We wanted to get an idea of whether this is something we can bring to our classrooms,” said Ulla Hojmark Jensen. “How do you encourage a democratic classroom?”
“We have a lot of challenges in our country, and we don’t really know how to talk about race and diversity. We have such a short history when it comes to diversity,” said Mira Skadegard Thorsen.
“We wanted to see how a diverse community works.”
It’s a tremendous honor that these scholars chose LCCS out of the many schools across the country that participate in Touchstones. Thanks to Ms. Muse, Mr. Coven, Ms. Klaslo, Ms. Wuerthner, and Mr. Diamond - our dedicated teachers who are making this incredible program such a success!
Marcmulholland
We were very excited to have author Wendy Mass come to LCCS this week to visit with students in grades 3-8. She's the author of 18 books including the award-winning "A Mango-Shaped Space," and "Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life," which was made into a movie in 2012.
Wendy talked to students about how she re-wrote "Mango" 21 times and how it was rejected 50 times by different publishers before she was successful.  (Photo: Wendy showing off a reel of all her rejection letters.)
Wendy had lunch with some of our Read-A-Thon winners, and she also gave a writer's workshop to a group of 7th graders. They did a character outline, closed their eyes to imagine the setting of their story, (photo) and wrote a quick paragraph telling their tale. 
Marcmulholland
This year’s Read-A-Thon was a smashing success, raising almost $6,000 for the school as students read more than 64,000 minutes! Here are some of our winners: (See the full list at the end.) Way to go!
 
We were also able to award this year's Literacy Leader awards to three local journalists, Kate Rounds of the Hudson Reporter, Cat Hecht of the Jersey City Independent and Ron Zeitlinger from the Jersey Journal.
After the awards, the three journalists went to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade ELA classes to talk about how journalists work, the important stories they cover, and how the digital age impacts their profession.
Marcmulholland
The next time you’re in the school lobby, check out the entryway.
Art teachers Jill Schifter and Brooke Sunshine, as well as classroom teachers had their students fill out colorful post-it notes with “I learn so I can …” or “I learn to …" Classroom teachers also filled out their own notes on “I teach because ..”
Their responses are a wonderful window into our classrooms.
Marcmulholland
|